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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  agricultural  Experiment  Station 

College  of  agriculture  e.  j.  wickson,  act.ng  director 

BERKELEY,   CALIFORNIA 


CIRCULAR  No.  28 

(January,  1907.) 


A  Preliminary  Progress   Report  of  Cereal 
Investigations,   1905-07. 


G.  W.  SHAW. 


That  the  underlying-  principles  which  make  for  profit  in  cereal 
culture  in  California  have  been  seriously  neglected  until  neither  the 
quantity  per  acre  nor  the  quality  of  product  is  what  it  might  be  is 
clearly  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  notwithstanding  the  heavy  produc- 
tion of  wheat  for  export  in  the  year  ending  June  30,  1905,  we  were 
under  the  necessity  of  importing  to  maintain  the  flour  trade  4,006,680 
bushels  of  eastern  grown  wheat,  and  in  1905  the  amount  used  was  even 
much  in  excess  of  that  figure. 

These  heavy  importations  are  necessitated  because  the  quality  has 
not  kept  pace  with  the  more  advanced  demands  of  the  milling  and 
baking  trades.  Could  wTe  stop  these  importations  and  supply  the  mill- 
ing trade  entirely  from  California  grown  wheat  it  would  mean  a  saving 
to  our  people  of  over  $1,500,000  annually  now  passing  out  of  the  State ; 
and  could  the  average  production  of  California  wheat  be  increased  by 
even  so  small  an  amount  as  one  bushel  per  acre  there  would  be  another 
$1,500,000  added  to  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  State. 

Wheat  farming  is  still,  and  is  destined  to  be  for  all  time,  an  impor- 
tant industry  in  the  State,  and  as  one  of  the  staple  crops  of  a  general 
farm,  is  worthy  of  not  only  much  encouragement,  but  also  the  greatest 
aid  that  can  be  given  it  by  scientific  research. 

With  these  facts  in  mind,  and  realizing  that  modern  scientific  meth- 
ods applied  to  various  lines  of  agriculture  have  been  able  to  much 
improve  existing  condition,  investigations  looking  toward  the  improve- 
ment of  cereal  culture  in  California  were  begun  in  1904  under  a  sub- 
scription of  $2,500  by  public  spirited  citizens  more  or  less  directly 
interested  in  the  cereal  industry.  This  sum,  though  small,  was  suffi- 
cient for  the  preliminary  work  of  the  first  year. 

The  chief  points  in  view  in  this  work  may  be  summarized  as  fol- 
lows : 

(1)  To  discover  or  produce  such  wheat  as  will  yield  the  largest 
profit  per  acre  for  the  farmer,  and  will  supply  the  millers  with  wheat 
of  superior  quality  ;  (2)   to  conduct  such  similar  experiments  with  oats, 


barley,  and  other  cereals  as  may  seem  desirable;  (3)  to  determine  the 
effectiveness  of  various  methods  of  culture  as  applied  to  the  cereal  in- 
dustry; (4)  to  determine  the  effect  of  change  of  environments  upon 
t  he  growth  of  cereals,  particularly  the  wheat  kernels. 

Realizing'  the  importance  of  this  movement,  the  Legislature  at  the 
session  of  1905  appropriated  $5,000  a  year  for  two  years  to  further  the 
work  of  cereal  improvement,  the  same  to  be  expended  by  the  Agricul- 
tural Department  of  the  University  under  the  direction  of  the  Gover- 
nor.   A  copy  of  said  bill  is  subjoined. 

SENATE  BILL  NO.  10. 

AN  ACT  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE  CEREAL  CROPS 
OF  CALIFORNIA  AND  APPROPRIATE  MONEY  THEREFOR. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  California,  Represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  Enact  as  follows: 

Section  1.  The  governor  of  the  State  of  California  is  hereby  directed,  and  it 
is  hereby  made  his  duty  to  cause  to  be  made  under  the  supervision  and  direction  of 
the  director  of  the  agricultural  experiment  station  of  the  University  of  California, 
such  investigation  and  experiments  as  he  may  deem  best  for  the  purpose  of  discov- 
ering and  making  known  such  improved  methods  of  cereal  culture  in  the  State  of 
California  as  will  increase  the  yield  of  cereals  in  said  State,  and  increase  the  per- 
centage of  gluten  in  said  cereals,  or  otherwise  improve  the  quality  thereof.  The 
said  governor  shall  have  the  exclusive  charge  and  control  of  all  moneys  appropri- 
ated hereby,  to  be  used  in  employing  such  expert  and  scientific  assistants  as  he  may 
deem  necessary,  and  for  the  paying  of  the  expenses  of  carrying  on  the  experiments 
and  investigations  herein  provided  for.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  publish  the 
results  of  such  experimental  and  investigational  work  as  may  have  been  done,  for 
general  distribution. 

Sec.  2.  The  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  neces- 
sary, is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  any  moneys  in  the  state  treasury  not  otherwise 
appropriated,  to  be  paid  to  the  governor  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  this  act, 
one-half  thereof  to  be  expended  during  the  fifty-seventh  fiscal  year,  and  one-half 
thereof  to  be  expended  during  the  fifty-eighth  fiscal  year,  and  the  controller  is 
hereby  directed  to  draw  his  warrant  on  the  general  fund  from  time  to  time  for 
such  proportion  of  said  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  in  favor  of  such  persons 
as  the  governor  shall  direct;  and  the  state  treasurer  is  hereby  empowered  and 
directed  to  pay  the  same. 

Sec.  3.  This  act  is  exempted  from  the  provisions  of  section  six  hundred  and 
seventy-two  of  the  Political  Code. 

Sec.  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  the  date  of 
its  passage. 

With  this  support  assured,  the  cooperation  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  was  also  enlisted  under  which  agreement 
the  Department  places  at  the  disposal  of  this  State  all  of  its  introduced 
wheats  and  hybrids  that  give  promise  of  adaptability  to  the  conditions 
that  obtain  in  California  and  in  addition  furnishes  without  cost  one  ex- 
pert eerealist  in  charge  of  field  work,  both  parties  being  free  to  use  the 
results  for  publication,  the  University  to  give  preference  to  such  as 


3-V' 


may  be  of  special  importance  to  California  and  the  Department  to  such 
as  are  of  interest  in  connection  with  similar  lines  of  work  in  other  parts 
of  the  country. 

Under  this  arrangement  Mr.  L.  A.  Fitz  was  detailed  by  the  Depart- 
ment for  1904^05  and  Mr.  II.  F.  Blanchard  from  1905  to  the  present 
time,  the  writer  being-  in  charge  of  the  work  on  the  part  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

Two  field  stations  of  20  acres  each  have  been  established,  and 
equipped  with  seed  houses  and  the  necessary  working  equipment,  one 
at  Yuba  City  representing  the  climatic  and  soil  conditions  of  the  Sac- 
ramento Valley,  and  one  at  Modesto  representing  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley,  besides  subsidiary  work  at  other  points.  A  cereal  laboratory 
equipped  with  the  necessary  appliances  for  making  complete,  practical 
chemical,  milling  and  baking  tests  have  been  established  at  the  Uni- 
versity. 

The  plan  of  operation  covers : 

First — The  introduction  of  new  varieties  of  wheat,  oats,  and  barley 
from  other  states  and  countries. 

Second — The  improvement  of  our  own  and  desirable  new  varieties 
by  straight  selection. 

Third — The  development  of  entirely  new  varieties  by  crossing  high 
gluten  wheats  upon  our  own  stocks  and  following  this  by  selective  im- 
provement. 

Fourth — A  line  of  special  experiments  dealing  with  numerous 
phases  of  cultural  practice,  including  the  advantages  of  change  of 
seed,  effect  of  fertilizer  and  rotation  of  crops  on  the  yield  per  acre, 
effect  of  the  time  of  cutting,  methods  of  conservation  of  moisture  in 
cereal  culture,  and  numerous  other  factors. 

Investigations  along  all  of  these  lines  are  now  under  way,  and  as 
results  are  obtained  will  be  published  in  bulletin  form  for  free  distri- 
bution in  the  State. 

The  first  season's  work  was  largely  devoted  to  the  collection  and 
field  trial  of  varieties,  and  a  study  of  the  conditions  of  the  seed  wheat 
actually  being  used  by  the  farmers  of  the  State.  This  latter  matter 
from  the  physical  side  has  already  been  published  as  Bulletin  No.  181, 
California  Experiment  Station,  Selection  of  Seed  Wheat.  The  manu- 
script for  a  ^discussion  of  the  chemical  side  is  now  nearly  ready  for  the 
printer. 

Since  the  plan  contemplates  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
both  straight  selection  and  crossing  followed  by  selection  it  was  neces- 
sary to  thoroughly  try  out  the  numerous  varieties  to  secure  the  really 
strong  stocks  upon  which  to  begin  the  work  of  improvement.  Such 
preliminary  trials  are  as  essential  to  plant  breeding  as  the  laying  of 
the  foundation  of  a  house  is  to  its  subsequent  stability.  The  strongesi 
individual  plants  of  the  most  promising  varieties  must  be  found  to  act 
as  the  parents  for  future  breeding.  Otherwise  all  might  be  lost 
through  having  selected  not  only  poor  varieties,  weak  plants,  or  both. 
A  large  part  of  the  field  work  at  both  stations  has  been  devoted  for  the 
past  two  seasons  to  this  preliminary  variety  testing,  the  selection  of 
pure  strains  and  of  strong  individual  plants. 


The  results  to  date  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 
First — The  collection  of  the  following  list  of  grains  not  before 
grown  in  California : 

Standard  Varieties  of  Common  and  Durum  Wheats 325 

U.  S.  D.  A.  Hybrids 72 

Kansas  Hybrids  66 

Barleys 60 

Oats 21 

Spelt    1 

Rye 3 

Emmer    2 

Einkorn 1 

Corn 15 

With  the  exception  of  corn  and  a  very  few  varieties  of  other  grains 
the  above  were  planted  both  at  Modesto  and  Yuba  City. 

Second — The  preliminary  work  to  secure  strong  stocks  and  indi- 
viduals for  selection  and  improvement,  and  to  be  used  for  parent  stocks 
in  crossing. 

Third — Over  1,800  seeds  as  a  result  of  crossing  high  gluten  wheats 
principally  upon  our  own  varieties. 

Fourth — A  study  of  the  actual  condition  o.f  the  seed  wheat  being 
used  by  farmers  completed  and  published  in  Bulletin  181. 

Work  along  these  lines  is  not  entirely  new — although  there  are 
some  features  peculiar  to  the  coast  wheat — for  similar  lines  of  work 
have  been  conducted  for  a  number  of  years  in  Minnesota,  Kansas,  and 
South  Dakota  with  wheat,  and  in  Illinois  and  Iowa  with  corn.  The 
benefits  derived  by  these  states  from  such  investigations  have  already 
amounted  to  many  millions  of  dollars  through  the  development  of 
wheats  adapted  to  their  special  needs  and  a  marked  increase  in  the 
yield  of  grain. 

The  results  already  obtained  here  in  California  give  us  every  reason 
for  sanguine  hope  that  we  can  help  this  State  as  much  as  these  other 
states  have  been  helped  in  the  same  line  and  at  a  very  trifling  cost 
when  compared  with  the  value  of  the  industry  to  the  State.  The  ele- 
ment of  time,  however,  is  an  essential  in  the  work  as  in  all  cases  of 
plant  breeding.  The  investigations  must  be  conducted  over  a  series  of 
years  in  order  to  fix  the  characteristics  of  plants.  Without  this  all 
labor  so  far  performed,  as  well  as  the  valuable  equipment  purchased 
at  an  expense  of  about  $3,000,  would  be  thrown  away. 

We  are  now  just  at  the  point  to  begin  the  actual  work  of  improve- 
ment by  selection.  It  will  require  long  patient  work  with  great  atten- 
tion to  detail  to  do  this  and  if  we  are  to  succeed  we  must  be  able  to 
follow  out  this  line  for  a  series  of  years  to  produce  stable  results.  To 
stop  now  would  be  to  throw  away  a  vast  amount  of  valuable  informa- 
tion gathered  in  the  last  two  years  of  work. 

The  appropriation  of  the  last  session  has  been  found  to  be  just 
about  sufficient  to  enable  the  work  to  go  on  without  being  hampered, 
and  an  appropriation  of  the  same  sum  for  continuance  of  the  work  for 
the  next  two  years  will  be  sufficient. 

G.  W.  Shaw, 

In  Charge  of  Cereal  Investigations. 


